Ministry of Defence

Service Justice System

Johnny Mercer: Today the Ministry of Defence is publishing the Reports of the Service Justice System Review and its response to them, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House. The Service Justice System Review was conducted by HH Shaun Lyons, a retired Crown Court Judge, who was supported on policing matters by the former Chief Constable for Merseyside, Sir Jon Murphy and by former Detective Superintendent Mark Guinness on Domestic Abuse, Child Abuse and Victims and Witnesses. The Review submitted three reports, Part 1 on the need for the SJS and an overview of the system in March 2018 and a separate report on Service Policing, followed by Part 2 on how the system can be improved in March 2019. In Part 2, the Review made a total of 60 recommendations with the aim of improving the SJS. The Ministry of Defence welcomes the reports and will be considering the recommendations in detail, including those that will require legislation for possible inclusion in the Armed Forces Bill.

Defence Equipment Plan

Mr Ben Wallace: I am pleased to place in the Library of the House the 2019 financial summary of the Defence Equipment Plan, which sets out our plans to deliver the equipment needed by our Armed Forces to defend the country and protect our national interest. The threat to the UK and our interests is intensifying and diversifying. As we set out in the Modernising Defence Programme, we need to modernise to keep pace with these threats. The forthcoming Integrated Security, Defence & Foreign Policy Review will provide us with the opportunity to re-visit our equipment plans to make sure that we are spending the Defence budget on the right capabilities to keep our country safe in the decades ahead. This will inescapably bring some difficult choices. We will need to create the financial headroom in our Equipment Plan to harness emerging technologies and develop the battle-winning capabilities of tomorrow. We know that to get this right, we must accelerate our work to mobilise, modernise and transform so that we deliver more effectively and efficiently over the long term. Reviewing our acquisition process will be an important part of this work. Whilst there is clearly work still to do, the Department has made encouraging progress in improving financial management, including in the Equipment Plan. We have balanced the budget for equipment in the 2019/20 financial year and refined our assessment of the financial shortfall in our plans for the next decade, which has reduced from £7 billion to £2.9 billion, or 1.6% of our equipment budget. We take seriously the recommendations of the 2018 Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the Equipment Plan and in April 2019 reported the actions we are taking in response. These include revisions to this report to include further analysis of changes to the affordability of the Plan and provide further background information to individual projects.The Government remains committed to meeting the NATO target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence and at least 20% of that spending will be on equipment. During 2018/19, the Government committed £1.6 billion additional spending for Defence and a further £2.2 billion was committed in Spending Round 2019. The detailed implications of this most recent settlement on the Equipment Plan are being reviewed and will be reported in due course. The Department is alert to the financial challenges rooted in previous SDSRs that were over ambitious and underfunded. That is why the Prime Minister granted a £2.2 billion uplift at the last Spending Review and it is why the Integrated Defence, Security and Foreign Policy Review will be vital in ensuring the Department’s plans are put on a stable footing.

Ministry of Justice

Implementation of the Whiplash Reform Programme

Robert Buckland: I would like to provide an update on next steps for the Whiplash Reform Programme.The Government remains firmly committed to implementing measures to tackle the high number and cost of whiplash claims. The Reform Programme includes the measures in Part 1 of the Civil Liability Act 2018, which will introduce a fixed tariff of damages that a court may award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity for whiplash injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, as well as a ban on the making or accepting of offers to settle a whiplash claim without a medical report. Alongside these, we will be increasing the small claims track (SCT) limit for road traffic related claims to £5,000.The Government had indicated that we wished to implement these measures from April 2020. The Ministry of Justice has made major progress towards this. It has worked closely with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), and with stakeholders representing claimants, including litigants in person, and defendants, on the successful build of a new Official Injury Claim Service (the Service). With the MIB, and using independent research, we have designed the new Service to put the needs of the claimant at its heart. It will provide a simple, user-friendly and efficient online route to provide those affected by road traffic accidents with an opportunity to settle small claims for personal injury without the need for legal representation or to go to court. Where a claimant is not able to make a claim online there will be the option to do so on paper. A dedicated customer contact centre will be available to support all customers through the journey if necessary.Alongside the MIB, the Ministry of Justice has demonstrated the development of the Service at numerous stakeholder events in London and Manchester, and spoken at stakeholder conferences across the country. We have been clear about the design of the Service, and how we will work to ensure stakeholders from across the claimant and insurance industries are kept aware of, and can feed into, the development of the new platform.Despite this progress, the Government has given careful consideration to whether implementing the whiplash measures in April remains practical, given the work that remains to be completed. We have listened to the arguments made by both claimant and insurance representative bodies.As a result, the Government has decided that more time is necessary to make sure the Whiplash Reform Programme is fully ready for implementation. We have always been clear that we need to do this right rather than hastily. In particular, we need to provide sufficient time to work with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee to put in place the supporting rules and pre-action protocol and to give industry sufficient time to prepare their businesses for the changes to how small road traffic personal injury claims are managed. We will also lay the statutory instrument in Parliament to introduce the tariff of damages for whiplash injuries.In the light of this, the Government has decided to implement these reforms on 1 August 2020. The necessary rules and pre-action protocol, and the statutory tariff, will be published in sufficient time before implementation.The new Service is designed with all users in mind, and will be simple and easy to operate. Currently motor insurers accept liability for damages in the majority of whiplash claims after road traffic accidents, and we do not expect insurer behaviour to change post implementation. However, there will be occasions when insurers do not accept liability, and claimants will need to be able to resolve liability disputes. Initially, the Government proposed to include a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution to enable liability and quantum claims to be adjudicated. However, in the event, no practicable solution which gave sufficient coverage of ADR for claims could be found. As a result, ADR will no longer be part of the online Service. Instead, we will ensure access to justice by developing bespoke processes to enable litigants to go to court to establish liability.The increase in the small claims track limit will not apply to those who have been termed “vulnerable road-users”, for example, motor-cyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, and who in any event will not subject our whiplash tariff provisions.The increase in the small claims track limit will also not apply to children or protected parties. This will enable the Government to test the processes and ensure that we have them correct before considering further extension.Because these claimants will not be subject to the new small claims limit, they will also not be subject to the new pre-action protocol and so will not have access to the online Service. As such, they will not be able to source their own medical report via the online Service, which is statutorily required to settle claims for whiplash injuries. Therefore, until they can access the online Service, the normal track for claims by children and protected parties which include a whiplash injury, will be the fast track and these claims will not be allocated to the small claims track. This means that, for now, these claimants will be able to instruct a legal representative who may obtain a medical report on their behalf and their costs of legal representation will remain recoverable. This decision has been taken for no reason other than that we consider it the fairest and most straightforward approach to ensuring, for now, that these claimants can obtain the medical report which they must obtain before they can settle their claim.It is absolutely right that this Government continues its commitment to tackle the high number and costs of whiplash claims, and the impact these have on the cost of motor insurance premiums for hard working families. Delivering these reforms remains a key Government priority. We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that all are sufficiently prepared for the new measures on 1 August 2020.


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Cabinet Office

Advance from the Contingencies Fund

Michael Gove: The Cabinet Office has sought a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund of £82,663,000.This routine requirement arises each year because the Cabinet Office receives a high proportion of its voted funding at Supplementary Estimate, and as a consequence may only draw the related cash from the Consolidated Fund after the Supply and Appropriation Act has received Royal Assent in March 2020.The cash advance will pay for programmes which will generate Government-wide benefits or savings and are urgent in the public interest.Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £53,885,000 and capital of £27,903,000 and cash of £875,000 will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Cabinet Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £82,663,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

Approach to our Future Relationship with the European Union

Michael Gove: Today the UK Government has published a Command Paper “The Future Relationship with the European Union: the UK’s approach to negotiations”. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the both Houses.This paper sets out our vision of the future relationship with the EU. This is based on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, or FTA, plus separate agreements on fisheries, law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, aviation, energy, and others.We are seeking the type of trade agreement which the EU has already concluded in recent years with Canada and other friendly countries.Our approach is based on friendly cooperation between sovereign equals. It represents our clear and unwavering view that the UK will always have control of its own laws and political life, legal autonomy, and the right to manage its own borders, immigration policy and taxes.This Government is committed to establishing the future relationship in ways that benefit the whole of the UK and strengthen our Union. We believe that this overall approach is a fair and reasonable one.


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Treasury

Tax update

Jesse Norman: In September 2019, the Government commissioned Sir Amyas Morse to lead the Independent Loan Charge Review. The Loan Charge is designed to tackle disguised remuneration avoidance schemes. These are tax avoidance arrangements that seek to avoid Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions by paying scheme users their income in the form of loans, usually via an offshore trust, with no expectation that the loans would ever be repaid.On 20 December 2019, the Government published the independent review and the Government’s response, accepting all but one of the review’s recommendations (HCWS14). On 20 January 2020, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published draft legislation giving effect to the changes to the Loan Charge following the review (HCWS45).Today HMRC have published the following:Additional draft legislation covering the Government’s commitment to refund certain payments made by individuals and employers for unprotected years which will no longer be subject to the Loan Charge where tax was paid voluntarily, together with details of the repayment scheme. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implementation-of-changes-to-the-loan-charge A Tax Information and Impact Note and Explanatory Note to support this legislation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implementation-of-changes-to-the-loan-charge  Guidance for employers who are either subject to the Loan Charge themselves or have employees who are. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-independent-loan-charge-review/guidance; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-and-account-for-your-disguised-remuneration-loan-charge All measures will be legislated for in the forthcoming Finance Bill.


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Treasury Update

Rishi Sunak: Today, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) wrote to me setting out the options for their second forecast for the 2019-20 financial year, consistent with fulfilling their duties under the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 (BRNA). The BRNA states that the OBR are legally required to produce two economic and fiscal forecasts in each financial year. A forecast was originally planned alongside the Autumn Budget that was cancelled due to the General Election. The first forecast of the year will now be produced alongside the upcoming Spring Budget. However, to fulfil their duty the OBR must produce another forecast before the end of the financial year. I have commissioned the OBR to publish a second forecast on 13 March which will focus on providing updated information on debt interest. The second forecast will be laid in Parliament on 13 March with copies available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office. A copy of the letter from the OBR and my response will be placed in the Libraries of the House. 


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Department for Transport

Aviation Update

Grant Shapps: Our airports are national assets and their expansion is a core part of boosting our global connectivity. This in turn will drive economic growth for all parts of this country, connecting our nations and regions to international markets, levelling up our economy and supporting a truly Global Britain. We are also a Government that is committed to a greener future. This Government is acting to tackle climate change and we are the first major economy in the world to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050. The Court of Appeal ruled today that when designating the Airports National Policy Statement, which was backed by Parliament, the previous Government did not take account of the Paris Agreement, non-CO2 emissions and emissions post 2050. We have always been clear that Heathrow expansion is a private sector project which must meet strict criteria on air quality, noise and climate change, as well as being privately financed, affordable, and delivered in the best interest of consumers. The Government has taken the decision not to appeal this judgment. The promoters of the scheme will be able to seek permission from the Supreme Court to appeal if they wish. As part of its judgment, the Court has declared that the Airports National Policy Statement is of no legal effect unless and until the government carries out a review under the Planning Act 2008. The Court’s judgment is complex and requires careful consideration. We will set out our next steps in due course. We want Britain to be the best place in the world to do business and as a government we are committed to investing in transport and wider infrastructure as part of levelling up economic opportunities across the country, including investing in the strategic road network, proceeding with HS2, and committing £5bn of funding to improve bus and cycle services outside London. We fully recognise the importance of the aviation sector for the whole of the UK economy. The UK’s airports support connections to over 370 overseas destinations in more than 100 countries facilitating trade, investment and tourism. It facilitates £95.2bn of UK’s non-EU trade exports; contributes at least £14bn directly to GDP; supports over half a million jobs and underpins the competitiveness and global reach of our national and our regional economies. Under our wider “making best use” policy, airports across the UK are already coming forward with ambitious proposals to invest in their infrastructure. We are committed to working closely with the sector to meet our climate change commitments. Our global aviation emissions offsetting scheme, sustainable aviation fuels, greenhouse gas removal technology and eventually, electric net-zero planes, will all help play their part in the aviation sector decarbonising. We also welcome Sustainable Aviation’s industry led commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the range of innovative action this will unlock to achieve this outcome. We are investing nearly £2 billion into aviation research and technology, and this year my department will publish an ambitious plan of actions setting out how we will decarbonise transport and support the UK achieving net zero emissions by 2050. It is critical that vital infrastructure projects, including airport expansion, drive the whole UK economy, level up our regions, and unite our country.


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Home Office

Action following the Independent Review of Drugs

Priti Patel: In February last year, former Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that Professor Dame Carol Black had been appointed to lead a major independent Review of Drugs. Dame Carol was asked to look at a wide range of issues, including the system of support and enforcement around drug misuse, in order to inform our thinking about what more can be done to tackle drug harms. I am pleased to announce that today Dame Carol’s Review has been published. The review provides detailed analytical insights on the challenges around drug supply and demand and I would like to thank Dame Carol for producing such an accomplished piece of research. This will be of significant value in guiding further government action to tackle drugs as we move forward. This Government recognises that illegal drugs devastate lives, families and communities. There are strong links between drugs and serious violence which have played out on our streets, as well as a range of wider health and social harms. The Review makes clear that we face a whole system problem that should be addressed by looking at Government intervention in the round. It is therefore critical that we bring together partners from across Government and externally to build upon this work and tackle the challenging issues Dame Carol has raised. Activity is already in place to tackle the findings in the Review. The Home Office is stepping up activity to address the challenges highlighted around drug supply and county lines. We will bring the full force of the Government’s response to bear on drugs supply, with work to disrupt supply from source countries; build resilience and enhance interception at the border; improve our ability to disrupt the groups that control UK wholesale and distribution of illegal drugs; pursue associated money flows; and use interventions to divert users into treatment where appropriate. This activity includes further investment to significantly increase the law enforcement response to county lines. Our investment is having a direct impact against high harm county lines which is why we have now committed an additional £5m, on top of the £20m that we announced in October 2019. This means we will be investing £20m in 2020/21 to further increase activity against these ruthless gangs. We are also working with colleagues across Government and with key partners to develop a wider, whole system response to tackle the county lines business model and associated violence and exploitation Alongside this, my honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will commission a further review of prevention, treatment and recovery. Dame Carol will lead this further review with input from experts in the field. It will build on Dame Carol’s work to ensure vulnerable people with substance misuse problems get the support they need to recover and turn their lives around. It will look at treatment in the community and in prison, and how treatment services work with wider services that enable a person with a drug dependency to achieve and sustain recovery, including mental health, housing, employment, and the criminal justice system. The Department of Health Social and Care will work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Justice to ensure the review is wide-ranging. There is also a range of wider activity across Government to address the issues raised by Dame Carol, including work to prevent drug misuse among young people. I am pleased that the new Prime Minister-chaired taskforce on crime and justice has been announced, which will enable us to be ambitious in reducing crime, including county lines, and drug-related crime such as the acquisitive crime driven by heroin and crack cocaine use. Given the devolved nature of many parts of the response, we will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations to ensure drug misuse is tackled as a UK-wide problem. With this renewed focus on drugs across Government we are determined to address the challenges raised in the Review head on. A copy of Dame Carol’s Review and the Executive Summary will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-one-report .


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